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Success Is Dria's Mission

Dria says, â€œHollywood is a place where they pay you a million dollars for your kiss and 50 cents for your soul.â€?

[Our Model Of The Day]

Where She’s From: Dria Emanuel, a Pisces, was born in Miami, Florida and was raised between there and the south Bronx, New York.

“It was never understood that I would grow up to be anything special, but I just always remember that I never wanted to become a mere statistic in any category,” she recalls, to The Black Star News. “My mother never encouraged me to much—but she there is one thing she told me that would always stuck. Just make sure I go out and get my own and never depend on anyone.”

After High School in Florida, Dria went to the prestigious St. John's University in New York until her term was cut short because of financial discrepancies.

“With my future looking vague, I was discovered by a casting director-modeling agent walking down the street in Manhattan who immediately put me in front of the camera for a test shot,” she says. “It was at that moment, when I fell in love with the camera. I felt like modeling was my form of art and expression.”

Where She’s At: “I am at a point where I am building the foundation for my future in the entertainment business and I am very picky with the jobs I choose,” Dria adds. “I want people to take me seriously. I do not want to be type-casted in any way just because I can be considered ‘sexy.’”

After a successful modeling career, Dria wants to land major movie roles: “I see myself being a successful, versatile model, never limiting myself to one genre or category. As for my aspirations. I would love to set my mark in history as a sensation. The Larger Than Life Latina Glamour Model. Something like the legendary Ms. Monroe, and from there progress to landing major movie roles one day.”

Dria also wants to design a successful, tasteful, classy yet casual clothing line for curvaceous ethnic women. She also wants to “one day write and publish a best selling non fictional novel.”

“The line between glamour modeling and raunchy is very thin and some girls have problems differentiating sex appeal from being sleazy,” Dria says, when asked how she deals with some of the industry’s challenges. “So there is always a horrible stigma that this branch of modeling is full of superficial so-called video hoes who are just groupies or gold diggers. Another challenge in this branch of modeling would be the ‘casting couch.’ Basically, sleeping with the men or person to jump start your career. It is something that I do not participate in; however, many women use it to their advantage, making it hard for the models that stay true to their morals.”

She adds that plastic surgery is another challenge: “It sends young girls the wrong message and gives them a false sense of what is beautiful. Making them compare themselves and try to compete with an image that is completely fabricated.”

Dria has had a small acting role in an indie called The Book, which was filmed in French. She’s also launched her hot website MissDria.com, which she says “is one of my biggest accomplishments thus far because it is a representation of my entrepreneurship. It is a business I mapped out myself due to my overwhelming success on myspace.com and pitched to GSEA.net and they agreed to sponsor it.”

“There is more to life than the superficial. You can be the most beautiful girl in the world, with all the right physical attributes and all the right qualities, book all the modeling gigs, but if you don't have to brains to understand what's going on behind the scenes, you are worthless,” Dria says. “Hollywood is a place where they pay you a million dollars for your kiss and 50 cents for your soul. Once you sell your soul, you are a lost cause, and just another pretty face, and frankly, there is absolutely nothing unique, extraordinary or appealing about that.”

Three Leaders That Have Most Inspired Dria: “Oprah, Alicia Keys, and Marilyn Monroe. I look up to and respect talented, positive, powerful women who push to make a difference. They make their own decisions at the end of the day and understand they hold their own destiny in their hands.”

The First Three Things Dria Would Do As President: “Stop the war in Iraq. I respect and always support my troops and veterans to the fullest. I would also work on making it easier for those in poverty to obtain health insurance, and of course last but not least, I would definitely have to work on the gas prices that are out of control thesedays.’

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